


Do No Harm

by CricketFox



Category: Jak and Daxter
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Dark Medic Program, Dark Warrior Program, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Jak II, Original Character - Freeform, Romance, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-22
Updated: 2013-10-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 03:42:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/731086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CricketFox/pseuds/CricketFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Autumn is a Channelor hiding in plain sight. As a Krimzon Guard recruit with falsified origins, she is over looked by the Baron's obsessive search for Guinea Pigs in a mysterious program. But on her first mission as a new recruit everything goes wrong, and she finds out the truth of what the Baron is hiding in the darkest reaches of his palace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Silo

Autumn trudged through the mud, the thick, muggy heat baking her inside of her armor. Sweat dripped down her forehead, and she felt greasy and in desperate need of a shower. The branches tickled her ears as she marched through the threes with the rest of her company toward their destination- a newly discovered well of Eco. The site had only been found a couple weeks ago, when the palace had gone searching for a new source of power when they'd mined another dry.

That had been the day Autumn had graduated from boot camp out in the desert. It had been the hardest month of her young life- the moment she'd turned seventeen, Autumn had joined the Krimzon Guard to help bring in some money for her family. With her mother ill and her sister Rikke run off to join the Underground, Autumn was the only source of steady income in her home. Rikke sent home money when she could- if she could. Sometimes, Autumn couldn't help feeling abandoned by her big sister, and resentful that she'd disappeared in such a desperate time of need, but most of the time, Autumn feared for her sister's safety.

Terrible stories had erupted over the last couple of years in Haven, about a wing of the prison that had been sectioned off and Channelers were being sent there by the dozens. Terrible screams were heard in long and terrifying intervals throughout the day and night; some of them would cease suddenly and there would be silence for several hours afterward. Before her birthday, Autumn had been going for an evening run when she saw a zoomer outside the prison with a few guards tossing in what looked like bodies into a large compartment. She had run home as fast as she could, breaking her previous record. She had told no one about what she had seen and continued on with her plan to join the Krimzon Guard. She'd endured six months of boot camp, the rumors crawling beneath her skin and manifesting in her sleep as awful nightmares about what would happen if she was found out as a Channeler herself.

It wasn't common knowledge that Autumn's mother, Amelia, had adopted her when she was almost thirteen, after her real parents had been banished out into the Wasteland by the Baron. It had been the worst day of her life, and most terrifying. She remembered her real mother, Lara, had grabbed her hand and ran with her from the Water Slums to Amelia's house and told her to stay out of sight. She never saw her mother again. It had only been thanks to Amelia's brother, Vin, hacking the citizen registry and changing Autumn's birth records that she had been saved from certain death in the Wastelands. And with no history of Channeling abilities in Amelia's family, Autumn had been able to apply for the Guard without being tested. If the recruiting agent had been just a little less desperate and a little more pushy, though, the guard would have found out that she was indeed a Channeler, and she more than likely would have gotten to see if the rumors that had caused her nightmares were true-first hand.

During her last week at boot camp there had been word that the Baron was openly looking for 'volunteers' for a project in the palace- which meant he had gone through all the Channelers from the slums. It sounded as though he would resort to taking people from their homes, high district or not. Any Channeler in Haven was in danger. And even though Autumn had managed to slide by without being tested until now, she was sure that- when the Baron got desperate enough- everyone would be forced to be tested, and then she would be hauled away. She knew that it would be safer to quit the guard before she got her tattoos; claim that she was too soft for the life of a soldier, and get out before they figured out what she was. But, until then, Autumn was going to send her mother and the friend taking care of her as much money as she could. They would be okay. She was going to make sure of that.

It was a relief to finally reach the small camp down by the silo. Autumn rolled her shoulders and back as she waited for her bunk assignment; she could use a hot meal and a break from wearing the heavy armor she was strapped into. She was extremely grateful that she'd gotten onto the second patrol, which mean she would be able to get a full night's rest. No evening patrol also meant she'd have more free time with the rest of her squad, though not so much that they could just mess around. Her company was set to guard the scientists at the top of the Silo when they drilled a man-sized hole in the top, first thing in the morning. That much exposed Eco would undoubtedly draw Metal Heads, and they would need all the protection the Baron could be bothered to give.

Autumn immediately made her way to her tent after getting the number assignment; there were two other women that were in her company with her, but after plenty of disagreements she was given her own tent to keep the peace in camp. She certainly didn't mind: Autumn had proved herself to be a bit of a recluse when it came to her comrades, all save a certain pair of brothers. Lif and Erik Andersen. The two reasons Autumn hadn't been found out as a Channeler already.

Every Channeler had a specific colour of Eco that was most attuned to them- Autumn's was green. Unfortunately, that had kept her away from proper medicines after she'd lost her biological mother in order to hide the affinity (leading to an excruciating incident with a broken arm at fifteen). During boot camp, she had dislocated her right shoulder, and would've been faced with the choice of deserting or revealing herself, if it hadn't been for Lif and Erik. Once upon a time, the two had a little sister, a Channeler as well, before the walls had fallen and they'd lost her along with their parents. They knew the signs of trying to hide Channeling abilities when they saw it, and helped her out.  
"The last thing we wanted was to work for that bastard," Lif had told her, his accent in much more control than his brothers.

"But we needed the money, see, like you lass." Erik had given her a wink, his bushy orange brow looking like an over-sized caterpillars on his face. "We would never rat ye out. Yer secret is safe with my brother and I."

And they'd kept their word. Whenever she had a particularly bad injury (which had happened a lot at first) that would have otherwise needed Green Eco to heal, they patched her up in secret so she wouldn't be forced to see the camp medic. She owed them her freedom, and one day she would find a way to pay them back.

"What a day." Autumn sighed, sitting down on her cot. Rubbing her face tiredly, she resolved to start cleaning her armor before dinner. It wasn't too dirty and it wouldn't take long to clean, but it was something to do to kill a little time.

Forty-five minutes later, she put the armor aside and changed into her sparring outfit; hopefully Lif and Erik were ready for some extra exercise before dinner. She grinned, knowing that they would be moaning over the extra work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well isn't that a ton of fun, then?" Erik ended up whining. "Ye come to our sweet little abode, draw us out into the muck, and then beat us up? Where is the chivalry, lass?"  
"I have not beaten you up." She snickered. "You slipped, I laughed." Erik stood up and brushed off the semi-dry mud. It wasn't that wet out, so he mostly came clean after a good brushing. Lif didn't wait for Autumn to focus back on the fight: he threw a punch and she ducked just in time. She then kicked him in the gut and he grabbed her ankle and twisted quickly, making her fall over onto the ground.

"Close darlin'." He said and helped her back up. "You'll beat me some day." She snorted and took the hand up.

"Yeah, after I work at it for twenty freaking years." Autumn dusted herself off and grinned. "Also, you wouldn't be allowed to get any better at it."

"Good luck with that lass!" Laughed Erik. "He lives for hand-to-hand." She sighed but perked up from the sound of the bell for dinner.

"Let's get going. I am freaking starving!" She turned away with her two friends and headed off to the mess tent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autumn woke up bright and early the next morning with the rest of her company, hurriedly got dressed, and quietly crept out of the camp to the trail that lead to the silo. Few were there just yet when she arrived, giving her a chance to relax.

Reaching back, she pulled her long brown hair back into a tight bun, and wondered where Lif and Erik were at; she had heard them bickering in their tent amongst the rest of the men in their company on her way over to the trail, she thought they would have been here soon after her. Her wondering was cut short when she saw them come running up with some more of their company. Erik was a sight, red hair and beard and in red armor, and quite a bit shorter than the striking blonde of Lif. They were both carrying their helmets, like her, and eating some Nutri-Bars that tasted like the worst muck you could think of. She grimaced as Lif threw her one and she tore it open to see a faded yellow color. Banana. Yech.

"I was beginning to wonder if you two were going to show up." She scarfed down the Nutri-Bar as fast as she could, pushing past the awful taste. The boys snickered and Erik chomped on an almost pink bar- strawberry, the only flavor Autumn could stand.

"Yeah, watch me eat it lass." He winked at her and she hit him up the side of the head.

"You just look for trouble, don't you?" Lif sighed as he crumpled up his Nutri-Bar wrapper. Erik shrugged, continuing to enjoy his Nutri-Bar far more than he rightly should.  
The helmet was snug against her face; it was thick with padding on the inside, making it restrictive and stifling.  
Their squad leader showed up, accompanied by a lanky scientist with disturbing eyes. Autumn shivered; they were piercing, dark and angry, like he was looking for trouble.

She hated scientists. All they wanted to do was poke and prod at everything, and she knew that they would just love to poke and prod at her. Autumn grimaced, but stood at attention as her Commander scanned the crowd. He didn't even have to say a word, and everyone fell into line and stood straight; a few poor sods hadn't gotten their helmets on yet.

"Latrine duty, all four of you, for the next week. Six mile run, now. Go." The three men and the third women of their squad fell out of the line up with stifled groans and went to do a run in full armour. More than likely the Commander would make them do it over again.

He scanned over the squad once more, making sure that no one else had fucked up. Satisfied, head went and stood back beside the Doctor.

"This here is Doctor Trulson, we will be escorting him and his team to the Silo where they will take samples of the local flora. Commander Hill and his squad have camped out up there overnight and will have already secured the perimeter. Your jobs today will be to follow Dr. Trulson and his team and protect them.

"If one thing goes wrong today, you will be out on your asses so hard, and owing more Eco than you can afford. And I am going to personally make sure that you can't even get a job scooping up Yakow crap. Understood?"

"Yes Commander!" The squad chorused. Dr. Trulson stepped forward and nodded to the Commander.

"Thank you Commander Steele. I would also like to add that the equipment we will be using is generated by eco and will bring Metal Heads down upon us. Keep a wary eye, the Metal Heads out here are more feral than the ones near Haven City. They scavenge for food and eco out here, and this Silo is like a beacon to them. Add barrels of eco for our equipment, and we are the Sunday smorgasbord at the Yakow Barn." A few of the recruits sniggered at his reference to the worst restaurant in town. Trulson smile at the ripple of laughter, the menacing features of his face softening. This was a dangerous man.

"All jokes aside, I believe that we are ready to go. It is a three hour trek just east from here, so let's get going. On your mark, Commander Steele." Steele nodded and put on his helmet.

"Move out!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trek wasn't as hard as Autumn and the boys originally expected. In fact, a couple of wheeled vehicles had been brought from Haven City to carry everyone and the equipment to the site, making Autumn wonder how much longer the trek would have been if they had walked. She grimaced, thinking about the trek she and her squad had made the day before. It would have been worse.

"Ye think that we may get overrun today?" Asked Erik to her left. His voice was muffled through the helmet, making Autumn think for a few moments to decipher his muffled, accented voice.

"It may get rough, but who's to say?" She shrugged, and toyed with her Red Eco gun.

"I don't think it will get that bad, lad." Lif chimed in on her other side.

"Metal Heads are smarter than you think!" A young boy named Connor squeaked. It baffled many of the recruits how he had managed to get into the Krimzon Guard. "They could very well know what we are doing and waiting for the time to strike. We could be overrun before you could even say 'yakow'."

"Lighten up, O'Mallie!" Called Kristen, the other female of their group. She was strong, tall, beautiful, and blond. And she was the first one of the bunch to get her tattoos. "We know what we are doing."

"Don't think just because you got your tattoo's first means you are the boss of me!" Connor snapped. "Just you watch, I will be the next one to get tattoo's, then we will see who's boss." Before Kristen could reply, Commander Steele opened the shutter to the front and glared through it.

"All of you, shut up! Or I will feed you to the Metal Heads myself!" He snapped the shutter closed and the rest of the trip was spent in silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their arrival was met with a whirlwind of activity. Not only had Commander Hill and his squad arrive the night before, there was also a team of Archaeologists at work at the base of the half buried Silo. Apparently, deep under the ground, was a buried Citadel that resembled one told in an old Fairy Tale of two wicked elves named Gol and Maia.

Lara used to tell her about a golden hero that turned into an angel and vanquished the evil siblings into a vat of Eco where they would writhe for eternity. Being here was eerie, but she didn't have time to let it sink in. Steele was barking orders at the top of his lungs, sending his squad to different parts of the site to assist Dr. Trulson and Dr. Towstego's men.

"DuPont, Andersen one, Andersen two! You three are with Trulson and his interns Melanie and Kyle. You are going to sweep the east side with them. Go." The three nodded and jogged off after their charges who had already headed for the east side of the large Silo. All around her were different scientists with groups of Krimzon Guard excavating areas around the Silo, and she could feel a charge in the air that came from the Eco run machines. She resisted the urge to start fidgeting in her armour as she and the boys were lead the farthest away from the main group. She looked over at Erik who shrugged, then Lif who jogged up to Dr. Trulson.

"Dr. Trulson, sir, we need to stick closer to the main body. We don't have enough men to keep this area sa-" Dr. Trulson put his hand and smiled.

"I understand, kiddo. Don't you worry." He smiled warmly at Lif, which gave Autumn the shivers. His eyes didn't share the smile, they stayed cold and empty. "Not much farther, there is a piece of Precursor Robot over here that I want to take a look at before we go and harvest the Static Lilies by the main body. Please, indulge an old scientist?" Lif shifted uncomfortably, but nodded.

"Alright, sir. But please, we must not linger." Trulson nodded and patted Lif on the shoulder.

"Thanks, kiddo." The Doctor turned back around and gave a sharp whistle at his two interns to carry on with him. Lif fell back and kept quiet for the rest of the walk.

The piece of Precursor Robot that Trulson wanted to look at was a hand. A ten foot tall hand that was covered in moss and ivy. It was laying palm up, and in a direct beam of sunshine was a Scout.

"Precursors, this is not going to be our day, is it?" Asked Melanie

"Shut it you fool!" Snapped Trulson. "Scare it, and we won't be able to kill it before it alerts a swarm." The small blond intern hung her head and Kyle put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry 'bout it." He whispered. Trulson shot the curly haired man a menacing look and then turned to Autumn and the boys.

"Shoot them, before the hear us." He ordered. Autumn nodded and signalled for the boys to follow her in a crouch. They were going to split off and cover the escape routes and shoot it dead before it could even cry out a signal to any near-by Grunts.

The Scout was asleep, giving the three an advantage. Behind them, Trulson and his two interns stood still as stone, barely breathing. One wrong move, and they would bring hell down upon them. Autumn crouched low, and lifted her gun up, aiming at the the Scouts throat. It had heavy armour, and was not made for combat. She would need to keep it from screeching after being shot the first time and then go up close for the killing blow.

Or so she had read in the text books back home.

Lif and Erik gave a signal stating that she could take the first shot, and she signalled back to have them take the killing blow once she took out its neck. She raised her hand, curling her fingers one at a time. 3.... 2....

"AHH!" A high-pitched scream from Melanie erupted behind her, alerting the Scout. It jerked away and screeched a loud and powerful sound. Within seconds, Autumn and the boys shot it multiple times, killing it messily. Without double checking the kill, Autumn stood up and turned back around to Trulson and his two interns. Two grunts had jumped out of the bush and were attacking them.

"Melanie! Kyle!" She screamed. Her feet felt like they were filled with led as she ran towards the two interns. Dr. Trulson was off to the side, his arm bleeding profusely.

Melanie died first, the scent of her death spread through the air as the Grunt tore apart her chest with its deadly teeth and claws. Her screams turned to bubbling gurgles as the Grunt toyed with her, and then she was silenced. The Grunt batted at her face, seemingly disappointed that it's toy was dead.

Then it turned its sights on Autumn.

"Lif, Erik, save Kyle!" She yelled, and within seconds, the Grunt was at her, it's jaws snapping at the weaker armour around her neck. "Don't you dare stop for me, go help Kyle!" She held the Metal Head back, using as much strength as she could muster.

Lif got to Kyle first, just as the second Grunt tore off the boy's arm. He screamed in agony, his body torn up from its devastating claws. The tall blond tackled the Grunt off of the screaming intern and Erik turned back around and shot the first Grunt in the chest to get it off of Autumn. She fell backwards, panting, and took off her helmet.

"I'm all right, tend to Kyle. I'll get Trulson." Erik nodded and went to run for Kyle when some Juice Goons and a few Manic Heads joined the party with a massive Flying Spider. Autumn didn't wait to recover from the first attack and got up and started shooting the Juice Goons.

"Autumn, I've got the Spider!" She heard Lif cry. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that he had killed the Grunt that had attacked Kyle and was shooting at the Spider.

"Keep them away from Trulson and the kid!" She cried. "We need to make a wall so when backup gets here they can get them out and help us take these suckers down." Two of the four Juice Goons started to square off with her, trying to drive her away from her comrades. She need to be careful, or she would be fried trying to get back to the others. She aimed for one, let it react, and then shot the other dead in the chest, giving her an opening to run to the boys. Erik had managed to get Trulson over to Kyle who was in shock and breathing rapidly. Autumn quickly un-clipped a civvy med-kit from her belt and threw it towards him.

"Use both of ours on Kyle. Lif, throw Erik yours so he can use it on Trulson." Autumn covered him on a couple of Manic Heads as he unclipped his med-kit and threw it to Erik. The Spider had backed off and the three Manic Heads and the other two Juice goons started to make a circle around them.

"Any ideas, lass?" Asked Erik as he quickly applied the Green Eco to Kyle. The boy was near loosing consciousness, but Trulson was sitting up and applying his own Green Eco.

"You need to pick off the Manic Heads first." He seethed. "They will go for you before the Juice Goons will. I alerted Steele just moments ago." Autumn didn't bother listening to him anymore and shot a Manic Head that pounced at her. Behind her she could hear Lif, and then Erik, join the fray. The Manic Heads all went down first, and then the Spider started to creep closer, smelling the dying intern at Autumn's feet. If it broke through, and she and the boys were killed or pushed away, it would take him to the Spider nest and let it's babies feast on his blood, for days. Keeping him alive until it found a new scrap of food or he died. She blanched at the idea. Lif and Erik were getting tired, she was getting tired. For all they knew there was another group of Metal Heads keeping the rest a bay so the Spider and the Goons could take them all to their respective nests.

Autumn shifted in her damaged armour; the last attack on her really busted it up. One more hit, and it would shatter. She grimaced at the thought the shrapnel that would get twisted up in her wounds if it shattered.

"Lif, my armour is damaged, cover me." She called. Lif shifted his position to cover her as she tore off the shredded armour. It was a relief to have the weight leave her body and be more mobile. From her hip, she unhooked a knife to keep in her hand in case she needed it. She quickly scooped up her gun and readier herself for another wave.

"I'm good to go, Lif!" She called. But the confidence she felt quickly dissipated.

From the trees, another squad of Grunts arrived; there were six of them, and another Spider. Autumn's heart began to race as the new group of Metal Heads surrounded them. There was no way they would survive this without back-up.

"Shoot them, before they pounce!" Cried Trulson, but his warning was too late. All the Grunts lunged, and all that she could see was flashes of metal claws and blue hide. She heard shots pop off around her, and then suddenly her gun was useless and fell from her hands. One of the Grunts came flying at her, it's teeth snapping for her neck. She knelt down and shoved her elbow into its chest, then she felt a white-hot pain after the connection. The Metal Head was thrown off of her, but her elbow was busted. The pain made her dizzy, preventing her from noticing another Grunt that took her by the shoulders. She yelped and barely pushed her palms into its throat before it tore her face off.

"Why do you bastards have to reek?" She snarled. The Metal Heads claws dug deep into her shoulders, sending pain through her body. In her surroundings she heard more screams and less gunshots. Her friends were dying. She was dying.

"Screw this." She choked, and drove the knife she had in her hand into the beasts neck. It roared and dragged it's claws down her chest at the sudden, unexpected attack. Autumn choked on a scream and tore a through the Grunts neck with the knife. The dark beast gave a bone chilling sound as it tried to scream, she had cut through it's oesophagus and wind pipe. It started to flail and tear at her chest, turning it to ribbons. Autumn screamed as she felt her body tear apart, the Metal Head's Dark Eco tainted blood burned her insides as it spread through her body. Her world became foggy around the edges, white noise filled her ears. The Grunt went to snap at her neck again, but then a 'pop, pop, pop' cracked through the white noise, and the rabid beast fell off of her.

"Autumn! Autumn!" Cried a hysterical voice. Autumn tried to raise her hand, to tell the worried owner of the voice that she could hear them, but it didn't move. Her breath wheezed, and Lif and Erik swam into her vision.

"Autumn!" They cried. There was a rush of voices around her, different shapes swam in her vision as the boys cries faded away as they tried to keep something from her. Something sweet smelling...

Green Eco.

"N....no..ooo..." She wheezed. They'll find out, they'll know. She would rather die.

She felt the Green Eco in every fibre of her being as it entered her body. It was soft, and soothing. It made her feel like she was swimming in golden honey, far, far away from here. But the euphoria was cut short when Green Eco met Dark, then it felt like every molecule was on fire. She heard screams, her own screams, as her body burned away.


	2. Process

Autumn woke to being jolted sharply, followed by the jarring sensation of blinding, white-hot pain. Her body felt like it was on fire, but her mind felt groggy, and her eyes were too heavy to open. There was a hum of voices around her, their chaotic tones put her tired, pained mind on high alert. 

“Wh- wha… hap…” Autumn struggled to speak; her mouth was painfully dry, making it hard to talk. Her cracked lips wouldn’t form words properly. She tried to swallow so she could moisten her mouth, but the action was sluggish and difficult, and her saliva tasted metallic. “What… happened…?” The words finally came, like a whisper, but her tongue became stuck in her throat, like it was coated in lead. A warm, strong hand grasped hers; the voice that followed it was cruel and cold.

“You are in an emergency vehicle, on its way back to Haven City. You have been… injured.” Autumn furrowed her brows and tried to take a breath to speak again, but felt a sharp pain through her torso when she did so. She let out a cry of pain and clutched her chest with her free hand- the man, Trulson, had not let the other go.

“Kyle…” she gasped out, forcing her eyes to slowly open. She needed to see, needed to know if she was truly alive, awake. This couldn’t be real. The last thing Autumn remembered about the boy was… was seeing him being torn apart by Metal Heads. But Trulson had made it- there he was with his sharp, cold eyes.

He still hadn’t let go of her hand.

“Dead. So are your squad mates, those Andersen boys.” Her eyes stung, and her vision started to blur. Her heart raced in her chest; blood rushed through her ears and her mind. She couldn’t think.

“She’s crashing!” A medic rushed over and turned a dial on the machine hooked to the IV in her hand; the piping glowed bright green with a rush of Green Eco. Autumn started to choke, her chest constricting painfully as her body convulsed violently. Her vision started to blur and white-out.

“TURN IT UP HIGHER!” She heard Trulson scream. Someone bashed into her stretched, jerking her sideways; the I.V. ripped out of her hand, and Autumn screamed as the searing burn that had ripped through her earlier had now returned. It was relentless in its heat; it felt as though her skin was melting off of her bones.

“Get that I.V back in! We need to stabilize her with more Green Eco!” Bile rose in Autumn’s throat, and she somehow managed to rock onto her side, and started vomiting strangely coloured blood.

“It’s no good- the Ecos are working their way out of her bloodstream and into the rest of her body, sir!” Another, female voice cried. Trulson cursed loudly, and a strong pair of hands grabbed Autumn’s shoulders, forcefully pinning her back down on the gurney. 

“Strap her in!” Trulson yelled angrily. “I will not lose this specimen!” Autumn felt thick, heavy straps being tightened painfully around her limbs; despite them, her body was still jerking forcefully as the two forces inside her waged war on her vitals. She faded back into unconsciousness with Trulson’s angry yells in her ears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Autumn woke again, the world was quiet and cold. She shivered at the feeling of cold metal against her naked back, wincing slightly as a bright white light filled her vision entirely. As more feeling came back to her, she realized that there were wires hooked everywhere to her body; on her wrists, her temples, her thighs… she shivered again, trying to recall what had happened and how she’d gotten here. Nothing came to her but strange flashes of a giant hand the colour red. 

It was about then she realized that she couldn’t move; she was frozen on the table, completely vulnerable.

“She’s awake, doctor,” said a soft, female voice that echoed oddly around her. The sudden intrusion of a foreign voice shattered the illusion of quiet around her and in her. A horrible, burning pain rushed through her body and the light narrowed into a small sun over her face. The electric hum of machinery was covered by the hum of many voices from shadows moving beneath the light. 

“Her heart rate is rising off the scales- she must still be able to feel the Dark Eco.” One of the shadows said, sounding distressed.

“Insert the Green Eco directly into her spinal cord. We must do everything possible to keep this specimen alive!” Trulson snapped- Autumn would never forget his voice again; it would be forever embedded in her memory, associated with this horrible, burning pain.

“But, sir- she’s so damaged by the Dark Eco, her wounds are festering in it! How can she be a proper medic if she’s full of Dark Eco?” There was the sound of flesh connecting with flesh as one of the shadows struck another. Autumn choked out a cry of pain as the victim of the assault fell onto her- beneath the bandages, she could feel her wounds reopen, hot blood beginning to spill again. 

“Get this fool out of here- I did _not_ hire you to question me!” The man was dragged off and there were the sounds of a small scuffle as he was forcibly ushered out of the room. Trulson huffed noisily. “Clean her up, and get more Green Eco into her system. I want her _alive_.” One of the shadows stepped away, only to be replaced by two more. These rolled Autumn onto her side and pulled away her hair; Autumn could only cry out again as she was positioned awkwardly on her wounds, and she made a feeble attempt to squirm away. 

Her efforts were thwarted by another pair of hands pinning her down; Autumn could feel sharp, manicured nails digging into her skin as they pushed her down. “Pin her to the table,” ordered the soft, female voice from earlier, “We can’t have her struggling while she’s being injected.”

“No…” Autumn whimpered. The woman lifted her hands away, only to have them replaced by another pair, and the original two clamped down on her legs and hip. Autumn couldn’t have fought them off even if she’d wanted, she was too weak.

“Is the syringe prepared?” The woman asked.

“I just finished filling it, Doctor Grace.” Answered another. 

“Good, give it here.” The shadows moved, and Autumn saw the light gleam off a large, ugly needle as it was handed across the table to Dr. Grace. The light was blocked out as Grace leaned down to Autumn’s ear and whispered, “Don’t move.” Autumn whimpered as she felt the large needle enter her neck, but the searing pain that had been present in her body began to dissipate as she felt Dr. Grace push down the plunger. Her heart beat slowed, her breathing regulated, and her eye lids began to droop as exhaustion took over her body.

“She's stabilizing.” Said a new voice.

“Good. Put her out and put her in the cell with the other five.” _Other five?_ was the last thing that crossed her mind as she faded away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autumn slowly started to regain consciousness; her whole body was tired and sore, but something in her stomach, or lack thereof, was pulling her out of her slumber. She groaned as she tried to roll over and open her eyes. Her bones were so stiff, like she hadn't moved for several hours. A hand softly touched her shoulder, making her freeze.

“I see you’re finally coming to.” Whispered a man's voice. Autumn groaned, and curled up into a ball. Her mind was foggy, and she couldn't remember where she was. “Hey, don't move too much, you might get sick. Well, if there is anything in your stomach to get sick with... how do you feel?” Autumn slowly opened her eyes to see a man, not much older than her, with a scruffy beard and grey eyes.

“Where am I?” She croaked. Her mouth was dry, and her voice hoarse, like she had been screaming. Perhaps she had been. The man frowned at her, had she said something wrong? He went to a bucket a few feet away and brought it over and a metal ladle that he filled up with water. She sipped greedily, trying to quench her sudden thirst.

“Don’t you remember anything?” He asked her when she finished her third ladle. Autumn closed her eyes, trying to remember the last thing that happened to her. There was a hand... the colour red... and…

“Metal Heads.” She wheezed. “There was... an attack...” The interns, dead on the ground... her body being ripped apart by the Grunt, it's blood pouring into her wounds. They had been at the Silo, she was supposed to escort... “Trulson... he... he said my friends were dead. Called me a specimen.” She squeezed her eyes shut, trying her hardest to think.

“Don't push yourself.” The man whispered. “Can you at least tell me your name? Maybe a bit about yourself?” Autumn opened her eyes and took a deep breath.

“My name is Autumn DuPont.” She whispered. “I am- I was a Krimzon Guard recruit. Until this morning.” 

The man grimaced. “Autumn, you’ve been here- unconscious- for three days.” Autumn blinked, stunned at the revelation. Three days? With the traveling, which was about two and a half days, that put the accident at… almost a week ago.

“Six days...” She whispered. “I lost my friends, my charges, to those Metal Heads, up North. And Trulson... what has he done?”

“Autumn… I don't know how to tell you this, but you are in Haven city, inside the Baron's fortress prison.” Autumn gagged, the shock radiating through her. _They know._ She could feel bile rising up in her throat, and she convulsed.

“Hold on, hold on a sec!” Cried the man as he scrambled over to a bin, “I gotcha.” He whispered as Autumn vomited into the bucket. She could feel his eyes upon her as he rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. When she finished emptying the pitiful remnants of food from her stomach, he brought back the ladle to her mouth. She carefully drank it back, savoring the metallic taste to rid herself of the sour taste of bile.

“Thank you.” She croaked.

“Don't worry about it.” He said quietly. “Can you sit up, do you think?” Autumn nodded, and let him help her sit up on the cot.

“Well look at that, she's sitting up.” Said a female voice. Autumn looked up at saw four others sitting in the small cell with her and the grey eyed man. “Dominic, how's she doing?”  
“Ask her yourself, Meriam. She is faring better today and can talk.” Answered the grey eyed man, Dominic. Autumn carefully cleared her throat.

“Considering our... predicament... I am alright.” She whispered. A man in the corner beside Meriam snorted.

“Predicament, you make is seem like a day in the park compared what this really is: _HELL._ ” Came his harsh and scratchy voice.

“Quiet Red, she just woke up.” Scolded another female with dark chocolate skin. She looked up at Autumn, and gave a soft smile that didn't reach her eyes. “My name is Cece, by the way.”

“Hello.” Autumn did her best to smile, but failed. By the looks over everyone in this cell, this place really must be Hell. Red's face was covered in dark sores that oozed; Meriam was losing her hair, and several of her teeth were missing; and Cece was so thin, it almost looked like her bones were going to puncture her skin. But the grey eyed man, Dominic, he barely looked worse for the wear. He must not have been in prison that long, or the others were all from the Water Slums.

The Water Slums were well know for the diseases that spread there so easily; many people in poverty there ended up dead, or worse. The Water Slums were for those that couldn't even afford the regular Slums. To live in the Water Slums meant that you were essentially slave labour around the city, and were put up in the ramshackle houses on stilts that had no heat or proper water. People did their... business... outside. The Water Slums was a place where you went to die.

“Sorry to burst your bubble there, kid, but this is what you have to look forward to.” Groused Red. “We aren't from the Water Slums.” Autumn was taken aback by Red's statement. Had she been staring?

“Stop scaring the poor girl!” Meriam cried out.

“What, you want her to get the shock of her life when they finally come for her? Should we just tell her that this is some kind of spa, that she won a first class trip to the palace?” Snapped Red. “Look, girl, if you are in here that means the Eco that you connect with best is Green. Which in turn means that you will become Trulson's lab rat to become his precious 'Dark Medic' to go along with the Baron's 'Dark Warrior' Project. Which, in the end, means you will _die_ , just like Leliana.”

“Trulson said there were ... Leliana, she died from this project?” Asked Autumn.

“This morning.” Whispered Cece, tears welling in her eyes. “Leliana was my daughter, she died from a Dark Eco overdose. They pumped her with too much.” Cece choked, and Meriam crawled over and held her. As she crawled, Autumn saw that her feet were black and swollen.

“This is the life you have to look forward to, kid.” Red muttered, and laid down to go to sleep. Autumn started to shake, her mind taking in all the information. She didn't realize that she had started hyperventilating until Dominic put a hand on her shoulder.

“Slow, deep breaths, Autumn.” He whispered to her. Autumn gasped for breath, but managed to slow her breathing; she was starting to feel very tired. “Sleep. You are going to have a long day tomorrow.” Dominic gently pushed her onto the cot and she was out like a light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _You are going to have a busy day tomorrow..._ The voice echoed in her mind as she fought the tangled vines of sleep; had that all been a dream? Surely she would wake up in her tent at camp? She groaned as the pain in her body started to rise up through her exhaustion, it cut through her hope and burned it. Autumn opened her bleary eyes to see that the cell was dim; in the other cots around the cell the others were asleep, except for one; Dominic, who was sitting up in his bed. His brown hair tousled from sleep, and his eyes were half lidded and had a dark, quiet look to them

“You should sleep as much as you can.” He said quietly. “You’ll need as much rest as you can get.”Autumn sat up and shrugged. She wasn't feeling all that tired; she couldn't get that awful feeling out of her gut.

“I don't know if I could sleep anymore if I tried... my head is swimming.” She rubbed her face with her hand and pushed back her tangled hair. “Tell me... what's going to happen to me, now?” Dominic rubbed the back of his neck and got out of bed. He went to her bed and sat down beside her, and looked at her sadly.

“Autumn, I can't beat around the bush, but I can't let you go in blind, either.” Dominic smoothed back his hair and exhaled sharply. “I don't even know what is going on half the time, I've only been here for a few weeks...

"Autumn... I don't want to sound cruel, but... it's very likely that you're going to die here." It was like he kicked her in the stomach; the information shot through her, and then she was hyperventilating again. When Red had said it, it was full of bitterness.... but when Dominic said it... The man wrapped his arm around her and ran a hand through her hair.  
“Breathe, Autumn, _breathe_.” He said. Autumn gasped for breath, trying to calm down.

“Why... Why are you telling me this?” She choked.

“When I first came here, there were ten of us.” He murmured. “One of them was my brother, and most of us weren't prepared for what was going to happen to us here... We are the next batch of I don't know how many that have been brought to this fortress for experiments.

“Autumn, I wish I had known what was going to happen to me, that my brother had known what was going to happen to him. I want to give you a fighting chance. The others, they have already given up. They don't even care anymore.”

“A fighting chance...” Autumn rubbed her face, letting the information sink in. She took a deep, shuddering breath and exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm down.

The cell door opened with a snap; a squad of guards appeared and surveyed the room.

“Everyone up!” Yelled one in yellow. Red shot to his feet and help Cece stand up Meriam who was starting to cry from the pain in her blackened feet. Dominic helped Autumn to her feet, and stood in front of her.

“Stay quiet.” He whispered. She did as she was told, peeking over his shoulder to see what was happening. The yellow guard that had told them to get up moved out of the way, and in stepped a man that came out of horror stories told at camp. Commander Errol.

“What a pitiful bunch this month.” He spat at Meriam's feet. “Where's the new one?” In front of Autumn, Dominic puffed out his chest and looked straight at Errol.

“I could go for another round, _Commander_.” He growled. “Why don't you dance with me a bit, rather than bullying the others?”

“I don't swing that way.” He sneered and stepped back. He signaled a couple of the guards and the yellow on punched Dominic in the face.

“Dominic!” Autumn went to check on him but was grabbed by another guard. “Let me go you son of a bitch!” She jerked herself out of his arms and punched him in the throat. The guard went down, wheezing, and Autumn turned to Dominic who had regained himself.

“I'm okay.” He said.

“Enough of these games!” Snapped Errol. “Get her and be done with it!” The yellow guard pulled out his gun and aimed it at Autumn.

“Move, and she gets shot.” He warned.

“You can't kill her.” Hissed Dominic. “Trulson would have your head.”

“No, but I can hurt her.” The guard pulled the trigger of his pistol and shot Autumn in the right shoulder. She screamed and went down.

“Autumn!” She heard Dominic scream. Autumn was curled up in a ball on the ground, in shock. She felt cold, but there was no pain where she had been shot.

“I don't think she can take another shot. What do you think?” She heard the guard in yellow say. Autumn was hauled up onto her feet by one of the other guards and led out of the cell. She stumbled, suddenly realizing she was barefoot, and almost fell to the ground. Blood was running down her arm, and her fingers were going numb.

“Next time you damage one of the specimens, it will be your head.” Autumn heard Errol hiss. “Carry her to the med bay, have the woman look at her.” The yellow guard picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She yelped, and a wave of nausea hit her. He trudged down through a hallway and arrived at a set of doors. The guard roughly adjusted Autumn on his shoulder as he walked in, stirring up her nausea again; this time she didn't bother to fight it, and made sure most of it landed on the jerk who shot her.

“Augh!” the guard threw her onto the ground by the wall onto a grate, trying to get the vomit off of him.

“You ugly little pig!” He yowled as Autumn recoiled on the floor. Maybe getting sick on him hadn't been the best idea...

“ _Enough_.” A young woman with dark red hair and two guards walked into the room and gave the guard a hard look. “Get out of my Med Bay before I turn you into my next specimen.” The guard said nothing and retreated. The redhead knelt down beside her, and her hazel eyes burned into Autumn as she examined her.

“I am sick off them sending me you things damaged.” She pushed Autumn over onto her back to examine the gunshot wound, ignoring her mewls of pain. “Fools.” The doctor hissed. Out of her lap coat pocket she pulled out a vial of Green Eco. She tugged out the stopper with her teeth and poured it onto the gunshot wound. The pain that had been radiating down through her shoulder dissipated and she was able to sit up on her own.

“Thanks.” Autumn whispered.

“Speak when you're spoken to.” The woman snapped. “When I require you to speak, you may call me Doctor Grace. Understood? Good. Now, strip.”

“Hell no.” Autumn snapped, looking at the two male guards shifting by the doors. Grace snorted.

“Suit yourself.” She got up and walked over to the far wall and pushed a button. Autumn was hit with a icy cold water mixed with disinfectant. The smelled burned her eyes and nose and made her cough. She hid her face, trying not to inhale anymore than she already had. After what seemed liked forever, the water shut off and Autumn was left shivering on the floor.

“Like I requested before, strip. Or would you rather freeze?” Dr. Grace sneered as she walked over. In her hands was a set of fresh prison clothes and a red scarf, same as the apparel on Autumns cell mates. She quickly changed, trying to hid herself from the two men behind Grace. “See, your life is already easier when you follow orders.” She gave Autumn a wicked grin, making the girl shiver. Behind her, from a door to farther into the med bay, Dr. Trulson walked in.

“Doctor Grace, have you finished with her? Or do I have to wait any longer?” Grace stood up, her face suddenly turning sweet.

“I'm sorry, father. We were just having a nice chit chat. She is ready for you to run tests on. She sure is a _feisty_ one.” Trulson chuckled. Autumn's eyes grew wide. Grace was Trulson's _daughter_?

“Yes, she proved that when she rescued me from a swarm of Metal Heads, my dear. And your husband called, he is wondering what is for dinner.” Grace grinned.

“Yakow stew, of course! I will send him a message.” She grabbed Autumn's arm and pushed her towards Trulson. The two guards appeared by either side of her, holding their weapons at the ready. “Have fun with her, father!” Autumn snarled at the woman and spat before being dragged through the doors, Trulson's laugh echoing in her ears.


	3. Experiments

Autumn struggled not to show her fear as she was let into a room filled with machinery and other test subjects. About her she could see other people hooked up to various systems monitoring their heart rates and pumping different coloured liquids into their bodies.

“What the fuck is wrong with this place?” She snapped at Trulson. “It looks like a bad movie in here. Am I supposed to be scared?” Trulson just snorted.

“Wonderful attempt at bravado, but your voice is shaking.” Autumn made a face at Trulson's back. She needed to seem more confident, shake him off. But she was so terrified. Dominic's grey eyes came to her mind as she was pushed down onto a chair at the far end of the room.

“I didn't know you were going to give me such a sweet setup, Dr. T.” The chair she had been pushed onto was plush and soft, but she could see the straps that would pin her down. “What is this fabric? Spindle Worm silk? I love it!” Trulson just rolled his eyes and nodded to the two guards. She cursed.

“Don't even think about touching me!” She sat up to grab at one, and two more jumped on her, pinning her down.

“You are just looking more pathetic.” Sighed Trulson. Autumn gave a sharp exhale and furious eyes as the guards pulled off of her. She was strapped down almost everywhere but the one that was by her head.

“What's pathetic is you hiding behind these morons.” She spat, trying to keep her voice fierce. Trulson sighed and shook his head.

“You are such a foolish creature.” Trulson pulled on a pair of surgical gloves and motioned a couple others over. “Now, don't you move. This may sting a little.” Autumn shook her head and tried to bite at the men adjusting her head on the headrest.

“You sonofabitch!” She screamed. “Keep your creepy hands off of me!” Autumn started hyperventilating again. She was pinned, and the six doctors, including Trulson, started to find veins in her arms. Her head and shoulders were held still, and a large, thick needle was inserted in the back of her neck. She whimpered at the sudden pricks of pain, choking when the large needle went through her neck. Autumn captured her breath, and glared at Trulson, the one who had inserted the needle in the back of her neck. He stood above her, his face obscured from the large light above his head. All she could see was the gleam of his goggles, the gloves on his hands.

“I can't wait to see what kind of monster I can make out of you.” The fear that ran rampant through her chest reared to a stop, and anger took form. She spat at the devilish shadow and mustered up all her will into a defiant glare.

“Frack you.” She hissed as one of the other doctors wiped Trulson's goggles. The man sighed tapped her nose with a condescending look in his eyes.

“I do get tired when you petty little things put on a brave face. It never lasts, you're like a B-rated film at the cinema.” Trulson and his group chuckled over his so-called sharp wit. Autumn just grimaced. She was going to die from bad jokes, she was sure of it.

“The machine is fully powered up and ready to go, Doctor.” The soft feminine voice cut through Autumn; Doctor Grace had come to join her father. She must have come back after having phoned her husband.

“Good, thank you Alanna.” Trulson cooed at his daughter. “Now, this may _pinch_ a bit...” The rest of his words were lost on her as the machine whirred loudly, and a hot fire shot through the back on her neck. Autumn screamed, struggling with her restraints. The hot fire swam through her body, down to her very core; surely it would drive her mad.

“Start up an Green Eco. Just one, Grace.” Trulson's voice was dulled over the rapid beating of her heart, and her screams. There was an icy sensation in her left arm, it spread through her body, numbing the pain a little.

“Good, now up the Dark Eco feed.” The higher dosage sent Autumn's body into over-drive; she was convulsing and her brain felt like it was being scrambled. “More.” Came Trulson's voice again. She screamed, her body ripping apart. Then, darkness took her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autumn woke up to someone prodding her arms and neck. There was a slight murmuring above her, two of the voices she recognized. Trulson and Grace. They were removing the tubes from her body and bandaging up the wounds.

“She's pathetic, father. Didn't even last an hour before her body gave out.” Grace hissed.

“Picking a fight with me wont get you into the DWP any faster.” Trulson growled at his daughter. “We have enough doctors on the Warrior program. I need you here, with the Medics.” He tied a bandage around her arm and winced when he pulled the knot too hard.

“Oh look, she's awake.” Said Grace drily. “She's all bandaged up and a KG can handle her just fine.” Trulson made an angry noise and sighed.

“Fine. Go, maybe Errol needs an update or something.” Grace made an awful squee, prompting Autumn to open up her eyes. Above her, she could see the blurry shapes of Grace giving her father a happy hug.

“Thank-you father.” She said, and sprinted off. Autumn groaned, that was not something she wanted to wake up to. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, trying to clear away the blur.

“They grow up so quickly.” Sighed Trulson as he turned back to his work table. “First they are learning to crawl and the next they are helping make history in the science of Eco.” Autumn didn't even motion to make a snarky remark; she felt like she was in pieces. She felt like her insides had been fried and her bones melted. He watched Trulson warily as he turned back around with a needle.

“You are so quiet, it's strange.” There was a smile in his voice and eyes. “I could get used to you been quiet.” He brushed back her hair off of her sweaty forehead, as if he was trying to soothe her. She weakly jerked her head away and growled at him. It just made him laugh.

“Sleep tight.” He said and plunged the needle into her neck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Autumn woke up to something cool and wet on her forehead; her body feeling stiff and useless. There was sobbing in the background, and quiet murmurs.

“Meriam has been gone for hours. We need to face that they may have overdosed her.” Came Red's voice.

“Stop it, you are upsetting Cece.” Hissed Dominic. “Red, we aren't going to believe she is dead until she has been gone long enough. It has only been three hours. They may be doing something to fix her feet. You can't have a Medic if they can't walk.”

“Or they could be shooting her right now, Trulson could think that she is too broken to fix.” Red snapped back. Cece wailed, making Autumn wince. The woman wasn't too far from her head.

“Now you've done it.” Dominic groaned. Autumn rolled onto her side and put a shaky hand on the woman's shoulder. Cece latched onto her hand and bawled, her cries echoing throughout the prison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two Months in Prison 

Autumn rolled over, her body feeling battered and bruised. She didn't want to get up, but she was so incredibly thirsty. She wriggled out from under Dom's arm and crawled over Cece carefully so as not to wake her up. The Baron had cut off the heat for the cells in the prison to conserve Eco, so they all slept in a heap with the blankets that had been provided with them. At first they hadn't wanted to touch Leliana and Meriam's beds, but the icy cold of the metal prison eventually drove them to use them when Cece had gotten ill.

Autumn crept quietly over to the water bucket, careful not to wake up the others. Every needed to sleep as much as possible. She sipped the cool water, wetting her dry mouth.

“You're up early, Leaf.” Came Dom's soft voice. Autumn shuffled around to see Dominic sitting up and rubbing his scruffy cheek. A blush crept across her face as she dipped the ladle back into the water.

“I was thirsty. It's like there is no water left in me.” She slugged back the ladle of water and ignored Dom as he crept over a snoring Red. He sat down on the other side of the water bucket so he could face her.

“I'm sorry if I was too loud.” She said as she passed him the ladle.

“I missed your warmth.” He said and dipped the ladle into the bucket. Autumn blushed again blew her hair out of her face.

“Are you flirting with me? In a prison cell?” She asked. Dominic shrugged and let go of the ladle.

“This is the best our life is going to get, Leaf.” Autumn smiled.

“I'm liking that nickname, 'Leaf'. That's a wild one.” Dom snorted and shuffled over to her side of the bucket. She leaned up against him, used to his frame enveloping hers the past few months.

“You really think this will be the end?” Autumn asked quietly. Dominic was silent for a few moments as he contemplated her question.

“Can you really ever see us getting out of here?” He asked, the smile from his face had faded.

“No, I don't think so.” Her throat tightened and she rubbed her face to stop any unwanted tears. “I just wish I could have said good bye to my mother and sister.” Dominic put his arm around her shoulders and leaned his forehead against hers.

“I know how you feel. I have an older brother out in the city. He is an errand boy for a soothe sayer in the Bazaar, among other things.” Dom cleared his throat. “I hadn't spoken to him for a while when I got caught. He at least had no Channelling powers, and I wont see him in the program.” Autumn gripped his hand, trying to show him support.

“He'll be safe. The Baron won't need him.”

“That's true. He has us for lab rats.” Dom said drily. Autumn sighed.

“You know, if it puts you back in the good mood you were in before, you could go back to flirting with me.” Dominic grinned.

“I'd like that, Leaf.” He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek. A red heat spread over her face as his thumb rubbed over her cheek bone. His face leaned in close to hers, goose bumps rose up over her skin as his breath caressed her cheek and shoulder. She licked her lips and made eye contact. His grey eyes met hers, and then his lips softly brushed against her own. Their eyes closed, and for too brief of time, Autumn had happiness in her grasp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four Months in Prison 

Then the cell door opened and four guards trudged their way in, Trulson in behind them. Autumn and Dom snapped up from where they were sitting on the floor and scrambled to help up Cece and Red who were groggy with sleep. It was getting harder to wake Red up, and Dominic had to hold the elderly man on his feet.

“We will be splitting you lot up, today.” Trulson said. “It's about time I put you four through some fitness testing.” He rubbed his chin, and pointed at Cece. “Take the dark one and the young man for endurance testing with Dr. Grace. I will take the old man and the the new girl for combat evaluation.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autumn stumbled backwards as Red's hook caught her off guard. Her nose was bleeding, and Red was nearly out of breath. She was trying her damnedest to not hurt him herself, but he was flailing all over the place. He knew his time was just about up; he was suffering the most in the DMP; the wounds on his face had not healed, and he was going blind. He looked decades older than he had when she first arrived, and so much more frail.

“Hit me back, girl, or we are both going to pay for it.” He hissed.

“I don't want to hurt you.” Autumn hissed back.

“Stupid girl!” He cursed. “What you could do to me is nothing compared to what _he_ ” Red pointed a gnarled finger at Trulson who was on the other side of the plexiglass window, “Can do to us both!” Autumn looked over at Trulson, his expression angry. His daughter stood beside, looking as though she’d suddenly been struck by inspiration.

“Now you've done it.” Red snapped. Dr. Grace was jabbering on to her father, and what was worse, he looked like he was interested in what she had to say.

“We don't know if we have anything to worry about yet!” But her hopes were dashed as Grace came into the room, accompanied by a group of guards.

“I have a special surprise for you both!” She chirped. Autumn blanched. An overly happy Grace was not a good omen.

“I doubt we are going to be quite as enthusiastic about whatever you have planned.” Autumn grumbled.

Grace sighed dramatically. “Any more lip and my men will take out on your elderly friend, there.” With the guns trained on them, Autumn and Red complied with the guards as they prodded them none to lightly through the doors and down the hall-way. They were taken through a part of the prison she had never seen before and were pushed into a large expanse that had cells stacked upon cells, and in the middle of the room was a metal chair. On it was an unconscious young boy with blond hair and green roots, and growling over him was none other than Baron Praxis.

“My dear Baron, I have a request.” Grace chirped. Praxis sighed and waved at his guards to take the unconscious boy away.

“What is it Dr. Grace?” He groaned.

“We don't have time for you to... prattle one.” Errol sneered as he walked up. “We have more important things to do than indulge you and your fathers... pets.” Grace turned her head away from Errol, and Autumn could have sworn that she actually looked heart broken. Grace whipped her head back to Praxis, giving him a dazzling smile.

“I have two subjects here that I want to try something with. They are part of my Father's Dark Medic Program, but they are just not responding to treatments. There has been no change in them for months. I was hoping that some raw, _powerful_ Dark Eco would give them a little boost.” Praxis looked thoughtful, and then turned to Errol.

“Commander, are your DWP subjects done for the day?” He asked. Errol nodded.

“Yes Baron Praxis, the boy was the last one. We are down to three subjects.” Praxis growled and rubbed his forehead.

“I want to hear about _any_ progress, or heads will roll, do I make myself clear?” He snarled at Grace.

“Yes, my Baron.” She answered without a beat. Praxis turned to leave but stopped. “Commander, supervise Dr. Grace, we need to keep this equipment intact.” Errol nodded.  
“Yes, Baron Praxis.” He turned to Grace, his face looking disgruntled.

“Oh Errol, isn't it great that we get to work together today?” She yipped. Autumn almost felt bad for him. Almost.

“Let's just get this over with, if you please Dr. Grace.” He said drily and went to the controls. He punched in a code and used a key to start up a machine. Autumn paled, beside her she could hear Red rapidly whispering prayers to the Precursors. From above the chair came down this wicked looking needle that spat and crackled Dark Eco in electrical currents.

Grace's laugh kicked her back to reality.

“Oh look, the tough little KG is starting to realize how much trouble she really is in!” Errol snorted at the woman's remark and then looked Autumn over.

“You must be the girl from Commander Steele's squad.” He said thoughtfully. “He had such high hopes for you and your two little friends; too bad they're dead.” Autumn snarled and lunged forward at Errol, catching him off guard. Her attack was erratic, but she managed to get a few hits in before she was grabbed from behind. In a last ditch effort as she was dragged away, she snapped her teeth and they met with the flesh of his ear. She tasted blood as she tore through the lobe and hit her in the face with his fist.

Autumn was held up by two guards as Errol wiped the blood from his ear lobe.

“You will suffer for that, freak.” He hissed.

“May I suggest we put the old man in first?” Grace walked forward, her lips in a soft pout. Red, who had been silent thus far, gave a yell of frustration.

“You stupid girl!” He screamed. They strapped Red in, all Autumn could do was watch him struggle feebly, strangled cries tearing across his lips. Then, after he was properly strapped in, they turned on the machine.

She had never been so afraid in her life. Pure, raw, Dark Eco shot down from the machine above him and cut through his body. She could smell burnt hair and heard his skin crackle under the intensity. She could hear herself screaming for them to stop, that he was dieing. Errol just stood there, a grim look on his face; beside him Grace stood with a twisted smirk on her face. When the machine was finally turned off, she thought for sure that Red was dead. A guard picked up the man from the chair on Errol's orders.

“Put him back in his cell.” Grace told him. “Then come back for the girl.”

It had taken three guards to get Autumn into the chair, and two more to strap her in. He heart was pounding so hard she thought it would burst through her chest.

“Please stop.” She whimpered. The fight in her vanished in the face of the pain and horror that she was about to feel. She prayed to the Precursors to kill her, that this would be the first and last time in this chair. She wished that it was all just a nightmare.

But her brain just seemed to stop when the machine whirred back to life and Dark Eco cut through her body. It was just like the attack at the Silo, her body burning down to the very core. She screamed, and her mouth tasted metallic; she had bitten her tongue. Autumn's body convulsed in the chair, hindered by the straps on her wrists and ankles. The world became nothing but a purple blur, and then, darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not even sure why I am updating ^^;

Autumn watched as Cece wailed over Red's body. He had died sometime in the night, his body unable to take the stress from the Dark Eco machine. The older man's face was white as a sheet, but his eyes were closed, as if he was still asleep. Autumn grimaced and pulled her knees up to chest and hid her face. She wished that Dominic were here, but he had been taken away earlier that morning for testing with Grace. It would only be a matter of time before they came back to grab both her and Cece, and then dispose of Red's body.

The stint in the chair had made Autumn weak, and very tired. She had not been able to sleep the previous night; instead, she’d sat where she was now and had watched Dominic sleep. When she and Red were brought back the previous evening, he had gone straight to her and made sure she was still breathing. He had held her, kissed her, and gave her water as Cece took care of Red on another mat nearby. Eventually, their two caretakers fell asleep themselves and Autumn grew restless on her mat. She needed some space, so she got up to sit against the wall near Dominic, and watched him until morning.

“Did you get any sleep at all, Leaf?” He had asked. She didn't get to answer because Grace arrived with a small entourage to grab Dom. “I will be back.” He had told her.

Another, louder wail from Cece jerked Autumn out of her thoughts and she looked up. Some guards were separating her from Red's body.

“No!” She screamed. “He's not dead! He's not dead!”

“Ah, shut up!” Snapped one of the guards. He lifted his heavy boot and kicked her face. She yelped, and fell to the ground, face in her hands. Cece's loud wails turned into muffled sobs as the three guards took Red's body and left the cell. Carefully, Autumn crawled up to Cece and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Let me see your face.”

Cece whimpered but raised her head. He cheek was already bruising, and there was a trail of blood flowing down from the cheek bone; it had been a glancing blow, but it probably still stung.

“We're going to die here.” She sobbed. “My daughter, Red, Meriam... We are going to end up like them! For all we know, Dominic may not even come back!”

A sharp jolt went through Autumn's body. <i>Dominic may not come back.</i> The thought made her feel sick. Cece picked up on her fear and started wailing again, only to be cut off by Trulson and a set of guards bursting in.

“Just shut up already!” Snapped Trulson. Cece covered her mouth, but still breathed heavily and choked on her sobs. Trulson just rolled his eyes.

“Chair them both.” He groused. “Then bring them to me for assessment.”

Cece screamed again, her voice ringing in Autumn's ears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five and a half months in prison

Autumn was sitting quietly in the Medical bay getting her check-up, the new collar around her neck itched and Grace had been cleaning up the scrapes that she had given herself from the constant scratching. Cece, Autumn, and Dominic had all been fitted with collars that could distribute Dark and Green Eco as needed throughout their training; Cece's slowly growing insanity was causing Trulson to restrain them with the collars.

The guards didn't need to restrain Autumn anymore. She just sat there like a lump, followed when beckoned, and let them do whatever they liked. In this case, an assistant of Dr. Grace's was taking blood samples and giving her some kind of booster shots. In the background, Grace was talking to her father. They didn't bother to talk in hushed whispers around her anymore.

“What if she bonds with the most promising Warrior that Errol has?” Hissed Grace. “She doesn't <i>do</i> anything. At all. How can she protect the weapon if she doesn't even notice what's going on around her?”

Autumn's ears twitched. Bonding? With the Warriors? How were they going to do that?

“You're assuming that the Baron's desperate attempt at a warrior program will work.” Trulson growled. “We are on our last batch of channelers. They are all going to die from exposure soon enough. Until then, I need every piece of data I can get. Now do your job, Doctor Grace.” Grace glared angrily at her father and stalked out of the medical bay, leaving her intern to finish up on Autumn by herself.

On the way out, Autumn punched the poor intern in the face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven Months in Prison

Time flew by in a daze. Autumn's complexion paled from lack of sunshine, and she started to grow thin. Upon later reflexion, Autumn realized she was only being kept alive because of the Green Eco that was pumped into her system daily. It was a constant, agonizing hell and Autumn could only stare at the wall and make hell for the guards whenever she could. Dominic did his best to keep all of them alive between treatments. During the night Dominic and Autumn held and kissed each other, whispering their hopes and dreams. These were the happiest times of Autumn's life, the last happy moments she would have while they rotted away in the Barons prison.

Eventually, Cece began to go mad. She would wake up in the night screaming, and would even attack Dominic or Autumn if they weren't careful. Nothing could calm her, except the Eco treatments. After each treatment, for just a few hours, Cece would be calm and even sleep without mishap.

But that only lasted so long.

One day Cece snapped. Fully snapped. She was in the medical centre getting a check-up, her collar being modified, and was fairly docile after a successful treatment. Autumn only saw the tail end of what happened, but she later heard that when the intern had started to draw blood from she screamed bloody murder and viciously attacked him. It took several guards to peel her away from the intern, but both died in the process. The intern's windpipe had been crushed with a devastating blow, and he suffocated to death.

Cece turned on the guards that had pulled her off the young boy and eventually they had to shoot her. She died from her wounds a few days later in the infirmary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks after Cece's death

Autumn lay on her cot, her eyes facing the door. The room was cold and vacant; it was just her and Dominic, and Autumn wasn't even sure he would be here in this new cell with her. She had been moved earlier that morning after another check-up, this time done by Grace herself. They had had trouble getting a new intern to replace the old one after what happened with Cece.

Autumn curled up in a ball on her cot, ignoring the pain it brought in her sore muscles. Trulson had put her through endurance training today, and had tried a Dark to Green Eco mixture instead of each being injected individually. With the Dark amount surpassing the Green, it had sent her into a horrible fit, but came out of it faster than expected and they didn't rush her to the infirmary. In fact, she was put straight onto the treadmill and gave the best results she ever had on the endurance test. Trulson had been so pleased that he let her have a hot shower (that was actually private and had no disinfectant) and even a hot meal (that she picked at) before sending her back to her cell. Now she was laying on her cot, wondering if she would even see Dom again.

Autumn's performance in the lab today very well could make Trulson work Dom harder, and much longer, than usual. He could have noticed their closeness and didn't want to risk them bonding with each other. Or so he had said to the Baron.

The 'bonding' business was crap. What, was this some crappy supernatural smut novel? Autumn curled up into a ball, hugging her arm around her knees. She wasn't sure if she could handle it if she lost Dominic now. Not after these past few months. Autumn squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push the bad memories out of her head.

The cell door opened up with a quiet <i>whoosh</i>, and Autumn jerked up her head to see who was there. In was shoved an exhausted, overworked Dominic. He stumbled into the cell, and Autumn scrambled to her feet to help steady him. Not a word was said by the guards as the door whooshed closed, leaving Autumn to tend to Dom. She helped him hobble to the cot and laid him on his back. He was shaking and covered in sweat. There were six small marks up his arms where Dark Eco had been hooked up to him. The back of his neck had a similar mark where a single tube of Green Eco was administered as needed. But in truth the single tube just kept them alive while their body battled the Dark Eco. There had been days where Trulson seemed desperate to elicit a response from her and Dom and he had given them to Errol to be injected with raw Dark Eco on the chair.

Today, it looked like Dominic had suffered both the chair and the tubes. The marks on his arms were bloody and purple, and his prison garb was fried around the edges. Autumn put a hand on his chest, felt his heartbeat, and calmed down. She was so worried that one day she would feel his chest, and his heart would not be beating. The man groaned, and his eyes opened into thin slits.

“Hey, Leaf. Boy, am I glad to see you.” He gave that crooked smile of his that she loved so much, and reached up to touch the side of her face. “I always wonder if I am dead when I see your face, you are too beautiful to be in a hell like this.”

“I see your mental exhaustion is catching up to you.” Smiled Autumn. “You told me that pick-up last night, too.” Dominic chuckled.

“I thought you would like it better today, now that I have had my ass handed to me.” Autumn's smile fell a little, and she kissed him on the forehead.

“I'll get you some water.” She pulled the bucket of clean water closer to her, and brought the half-full ladle to Dominic's mouth. “Small sips, Dom.”

“I don't want to lose you.” Autumn squeezed his hand reassuringly.

“I'll be fine, Dom. And so will you.” He smiled, the corners of his eyes wrinkling a little.

“I love you, Leaf.” He said quietly. Autumn's breath caught in her throat, and her cheeks flushed a deep red.

“Dom...” She was at a loss for words. She wanted to tell him she loved him too. She was scared. Dominic grinned, and kissed her on the mouth.

“I know you love me too, my little green Leaf.”

The rest of their night was spent quietly. Dominic eventually fell asleep with his head in Autumn's lap. The ex-KG rested her head back against the corner of the wall, and eventually fell asleep, one hand clutching Dominic's and the other lightly fisted in his long, shaggy hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two were woken up the next morning by Errol himself. He hadn't been their wake-up call since she first arrived. Something was going to be different, and definitely not pleasant.

“Get up you disgusting creatures.” He snapped. Autumn and Dom were hauled out of their bed and escorted out behind Errol. The two lovers stayed close as they were lead down a different hallway to a wing of the prison they had never been to before.

They arrived to a viewing chamber that was split in two, a large two-way mirror on either side. In one was a young woman with long blonde hair, looking bored. In the other room was a young boy with blond hair with green roots. He looked quiet and dejected, and Autumn felt her heart twist at the sight of him.

Doctor Grace and her father stood up when they arrived. Trulson and Errol moved off to the side to speak and Grace looked Autumn over.

“Put her in with Serena. Put the other one with the boy.” She ordered the guards. Dom squeezed Autumn's hand as they were pulled apart and shoved into the small arenas.

The older girl looked healthy and well fed, it was like she didn't belong here. Her long blonde hair was shiny and clean, her clothes were not prison garb but that of a civilian, and she had no collar. Autumn thought that she must be new, but she felt like she had heard Serena's name before...

“They want me to bond with _this_ scrap? Pathetic.” Serena pushed back her hair and sighed. “I thought that they would have at least given me the cute one. He looks like he would give me a good tussle.” That comment made Autumn twitch in anger. This woman couldn't be part of the program, but she had spoken about Bonding with Autumn.

“Are you new?” She asked. “You look...” Serena snorted.

“New? Hah! I am _thriving_ off of this 'program'! I have a proper sleeping quarters, plenty of food, hot water, and clean clothes.” Serena flipped back her hair again. A habit that Autumn would soon learn to hate. “ _I_ was smart enough to volunteer for this, and I am being paid _very_ well for my trouble.”

“ _How_ in the Precursors can you stand to profit off being tortured and mutated?” Serena just snorted, and looked down at Autumn with such fierceness it made the young girl feel tiny.

“I am well rested, fed, and Dr. Grace takes care of me personally.” The blonde gave Autumn a flirty wink. “When the war is over I will be taken care of for life!”

“You're a fool.” Snarled Autumn. “The Baron will never let you go. He is more likely to kill you than make sure you are taken care of. You are nothing but a tool to him.” Serena let out an animalistic snarl and was on top of Autumn in a blink of an eye.

“ **You're** the fool, little girl.” Serena's eyes blackened and smoldered with hatred, her voice warped as if she had two voices. “I am a GOD compared to the Baron. He is nothing but a worm, and once this war is over, I'm going to  <b>kill</b> him.” Serena's nails grew sharply from her now snow white skin, and sunk into Autumn's shoulders, making her wince. The animal version of Serena grinned; her teeth grew to a sharp predatory point, like that of a Lurker Shark. Autumn felt like her heart was going to burst out from her chest.

“Your fear smells delicious.” Serena whispered against her captive's ear. Her lips brushed across the terrified girl’s neck and the large Lurker teeth scraped lightly across her collarbone. Autumn struggled under the stronger woman's weight, getting very creeped out.

“Get off me!” She screeched.

There was a loud _whoosh_ and a large door rolled open, revealing a mass of hissing sounds and several glowing Skull Gems. The glowing gems started moving out of the darkness, revealing themselves to be an angry group of Stingers.

Serena's attention was quickly diverted and she jumped up to her feet. Her animal instincts would deem them a larger threat than Autumn.

“Stay out of my way.” Serena hissed, and then jumped into the crowd of Metal Heads. Several squealed as the woman sliced through them, splattering blood everywhere. Serena cackled as the majority of the group turned to attack her, leaving only about six for Autumn to contend with.

“Bugs. I _hate_ bugs.” She muttered. Gathering her courage, she kicked one into Serena's warpath. But before it had gotten airborne, it had scrapped its claws down her bare foot, drawing blood. She cursed and hopped away from getting stung by another one.

Before Autumn could formulate a plan, there was a loud crashing sound; two Manic Heads came bolting out of the darkness, broken chains swung off of the collars around their necks. One went for Serena and the other one for Autumn; the smaller woman screamed and jumped out of the way. The Manic Head fell to the ground and and tripped over two Stingers and crashed into the wall. Autumn couldn't help but snicker a little before she got gashed by another bug. She yelped and crushed it with her heel; the creature cracked open, spilling out Dark Eco filled blood that burned her skin. Behind her the Manic Head growled and stood up, having finally gained its composure. Autumn froze, and it launched at her, pinning her to the ground. Autumn screamed as she hit the ground, just pushing the Metal Head away from her neck in time from its snapping jaws.

Around her neck, the collar sparked and burned her flesh. Her breath hitched as it erupted with Trulson's Dark and Green Eco mixture. Autumn screamed and the Manic Head yelped, but kept its grip on her shoulders. A cold pain shot down Autumn's fingertips and up into her teeth; they started to tingle, like they were electrically charged. She held up her right hand to push off the Manic Head, and was startled to see long, lethal, green claws. The Manic Head snapped at her face again, and Autumn sliced at its face with her new claws, like there was an animal inside of her, taking over.

The Manic Head roared in pain and backed off; its eyes streaming with violet blood. Autumn jumped to her feet, vaguely aware of her new sharp teeth digging into her lower lip. Several Stingers went for her, identifying her as the newest threat. She swiped at them with her new claws; they were exceedingly easy to cut through. The Manic Head she a blinded seemed to have gathered itself and was using its nose to find her. Autumn disposed of a few more Stingers and then leaped at the Manic Head tearing at its flesh. In her mind, she was screaming; she was becoming a monster like Serena. The red Metal Head fell to the ground, dead. Autumn jumped away, and gave a loud, terrifying screech. She wasn't about to be controlled by the blood lust that was coursing through her. There were no more Metal Heads standing, all that was left was Serena, who was staring at her in curiosity. Beside her was Dr. Grace, whose gaze was concerned and focused on Serena. Autumn screamed again, the new power she felt faded away and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autumn was kept in the Medical Wing for two days on a constant stream of Green and Dark Eco that rendered her almost comatose. When she had finally awoken she went into a panic. It took several doctors to pin her down and sedate her; they had to put on restraints and Trulson came in later and ordered her to be put back in a new cell, ‘away from the distracting male specimen’ he had said.

That night, Autumn cried herself to sleep; she was all alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nine Months in Prison

Autumn wrestled a Grunt to the ground and killed it, using a move that she had seen Serena use on the other poor Grunt in the corner. Today, Grace was letting the Heads out of the back room in waves, they were steadily becoming stronger and came in larger numbers.

She had started them with just a handful of Stingers, then a couple Manic Heads, and this time were the three Grunts. Serena dispatched two of them immediately with her sharp claws. The older woman was becoming more reliant on her dark powers these passing weeks, and becoming more blood thirsty and violent with every kill she made.

Autumn stood and wiped the sweat off of her brow. She hadn’t seen the green claws or strange powers from herself since they first appeared several weeks ago, despite Grace’s pushing with the terrible shocks of her father’s Dark and Green Eco mixture.

“You’re useless.” Hissed Serena through her Lurker sharp teeth, they were caked in dark Metal Head blood and made Autumn grimace.

“You’re the warrior, Serena. I’m just here to save your ass if you ever need it.” Serena growled and spat at Autumn’s feet.

“Like I said, _useles_ s.” Serena turned her back to Autumn and crouched as the door opened again, this time revealing two Crab Heads. Serena just snorted and jumped up on one, using her impossibly sharp claws to climb her way up its legs and onto its back. The creature screeched and its counterpart shot furiously at Serena. The young woman just snickered and jumped out of the way, the shots killing the other Crab Head.

The Crab Head fell to the ground with a loud crash, and Serena took that moment to use a powerful attack to cut open the chest of the first Head Crab. It screeched and skittered backwards, leaving its vulnerable belly exposed. Serena didn’t miss a beat and tore open its belly. The Head Crab gave a last, strangled cry and went silent.

Serena turned to Autumn.

“Useless.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Eleven Months in Prison

 

One day, after over a week of silence, Autumn was grabbed late in the evening by Doctor Trulson himself. He had stopped escorting the guards to retrieve her after she and Dominic had been separated. He had said nothing as she got to her feet; something was off today. Warily, Autumn stepped out of her cell and didn’t make a fuss. She felt the need to properly assess her situation before she used her precious energy. But they just took her to the viewing rooms.

Autumn was pushed into one together with Serena, Jak, and... Dominic!

“Leaf!” He cried, and embraced her. “You’re still alive.”

“I’ve missed you.” She whispered. “I thought I would never see you again.”

Serena's face turned into a snarl when they parted; her teeth and nails had already sharpened, her eyes staying normal and full of hate. She was different. Serena was gaunt, thinner, and was now wearing a prison garb. Around her neck, and Jak’s, was the same collar that had been put on Autumn and Dominic.

“ **You**.” She hissed and strode up to Autumn. She didn't budge and let the bigger woman come right up to her face. “It's your entire fault, you did this to me! You made me nothing more than a slave!” Dark Eco jumped around Serena's body, and Autumn braced herself from the inevitable attack. She would fight back this time, and win. Dominic stayed close to her, wary of Serena.

“ _I_ did this to you?” Autumn looked at Serena in disbelief. The woman roared in frustration, but was cut off as she was given a small shock of what looked like to be a mixture of Dark and Red Eco. Autumn stepped back, in case the woman decided to fully change. Behind her, the blond boy took a defensive stance. He also seemed to be familiar with her moods.

A familiar _woosh_ alerted the group to the large door; experience taught them that there were _always_ Metal Heads on the other side. A couple Grunts and several Manic Head emerged, followed by several Stingers and three Juice Goon. Autumn paled, the last time she had faced so many ‘Heads was when she had been at the Silo and had almost died. The memory was still sharp in her mind, and made her heart skip several beats.

“Don’t worry Leaf, you won’t die here today.” Dominic gave her a flirtatious wink, which made her feel a bit less anxious.

The Metal Heads attacked eager to sink their teeth into what they deemed as easy prey. Serena attacked the Juice Goon head on, while Jak and Dom each took a grunt, leaving the Stingers to do as they pleased and the single Manic Head to set its sights on her. Autumn sighed; she hated Manic Heads more than she did Stingers.

The creature lunged and Autumn fell back, lifting her feet up to her chest and pushing out as hard as she could against the it’s chest as it came down on top of her. The ‘Head squealed in surprise and fell on top of a couple Stingers. Autumn scrambled to her feet and felt the tingling sensation in her fingers again; she hadn’t felt it since her first session with Serena.

The Manic Head was back on its feet, and it directed itself straight for Autumn again. She readied herself for the attack, but her collar sparked, and then belted out a large dosage of Green and Dark Eco. Autumn screamed, and in the background she heard the others screaming as well. All of them were getting a sharp dosage in the middle of battle.

Her body felt like it was burning, and her fingers unwittingly curled as bone-cracking pain shot through Autumn’s hands. Raising her head, she watched in horror as her nails grew, curving and sharpening, turning into short, dark-green claws. Her skin paled to an ashy, bloodless white, her major veins and arteries pulsing emerald beneath it and giving it a green tint. Autumn doubled over in pain as the Manic Head lunged at her. It hit her, and it felt like whatever had cause her the pain in her skull sunk into its chest. She fell backwards, the ‘Head falling off of her; in its chest were two deadly punctures. She felt her head and found a set of small, deadly horns covered in violet blood.

There was a loud roar, and Autumn looked up; Serena’s Goon was dead, there were no more Stingers, and she was on the move. Autumn jumped to her feet and panicked when she realized who Serena was going for; Dominic, who still locked in battle with his Grunt. Autumn yelped and ran towards him and jumped in front of Serena. Her black eyes connected with Autumn’s, sending a chill down her spine. Serena gave a primal scream and Dark Eco collected in her palms like violet fire; she lunged at Autumn and her claws went for the girls face. Autumn managed to hit Serena’s hand away from her right eye, but the other connected and she felt a searing pain as Dark Eco poured into the wounds made by the woman’s claws. Serena batted Autumn away and jumped on top of Dominic. There was a horrible scream from Dominic, and she panicked to see through the gushing blood and pain; Serena was ‘playing’ with Dominic, her violet fire scorching his skin. Autumn managed to get up onto her knees and tried to crawl to Dominic, the Dark Eco shocking her system.

A flash of white passed Autumn and bowled into Serena, knocking her away from Dominic. It was Jak, and he was as monstrous as Serena, who was now fully engrossed on this new threat that had taken her away from her plaything. Autumn scrambled over to Dominic, and put her hands on his chest, begging her supposed healing powers to work.

Autumn could _feel_ the life draining from Dominic’s body with every drop of blood he lost. The wound was deep; his face was nearly ashen after only a few moments.

“Dom… Dominic…” She whispered, tears beading at the corners of her eyes. “Don’t leave me here… please… don’t leave me.” Autumn crumpled onto his chest, crying. Behind her, Jak and Serena’s battle waged on uninterrupted, their roars and screeches echoing around the room.

“Aut… um…” Dominic wheezed. His hand twitched as though he was trying to raise it to stroke her hair back. “Dnn… cry…” Autumn felt the hand he’d had clenched around hers go lax as he faded away.

“No… nnnnooooooo!” Autumn let out a horrific wail, dropping her head into her hands. Electricity, vibrant purple electricity, crackled around her body, licking the air around her.

The movement, however, caught the eye of the two fighting Weapons. Serena stabbed her claws into Jak’s stomach and then shoved him away, then lunged at Autumn. The girl shrieked as the Eco-maddened woman dug her long talons into her shoulders, snapping her similarly lengthened teeth at Autumn’s neck. Autumn pushed with all her might against her attacker, staving her off long enough for Jak to get to his feet and leap, tackling Serena off and away from Autumn. Autumn scrambled up in time to see Jak rake his claws through Serena’s throat, killing her with a bloody gurgle. He dropped the body to the ground, then fell to his knee, panting and curling a hand around his bleeding stomach wound. He looked over at Autumn, his eyes locking with hers.

Autumn’s brain warred with itself- two different instincts had awoken as Jak’s gaze fell on her. One, to flee from the blood stained weapon in front of her; the other, to do what was right and heal him. For a moment, it looked like her flight response would win, but Autumn only managed a single step away before the urge to heal ultimately won out, and she found herself moving slowly toward Jak instead. He eyed her warily as she approached, but didn’t let out more than a token growl of pain as she put her hands on the most damaging of his stomach wounds. Tapping into the green eco that slept within her, she channeled it out through her hands and into Jak’s body. His breathing became less laboured as the wounds sealed beneath her hands. Once Jak was fully healed, Autumn collapsed to the ground, reverting back to normal.

The room filled with the noise of heavy boots as Errol and Trulson walked in, flanked by half a dozen armed guards; Veger remained behind the thick glass of the observation chamber.

“It seems your test went better than expected, Trulson.” Autumn could hear the pleased smirk in Errol’s voice. “Get the two of them out of here to be re-processed.” He ordered.

Autumn’s head jerked up as a guard moved to grab her. With a scream, she grabbed him, reaching around him and taking his gun. Having been taken completely off guard by her sudden attack, he was easily knocked aside by the enraged Channelor, who sprang to her feet, jerking away from a second guard that had wanted to try his luck against the apparently helpless subject.

“Stop her!” Errol ordered.

“Don’t damage her! She must be in perfect condition!” Trulson screamed from behind the Commander.

Autumn turned and shot a fourth guard, and then turned toward Errol and Trulson. “You- you bastards!” She roared, aiming the gun at them. Her finger had curled around the trigger, not quite pressing down, when movement caught her eye. She turned just slightly, the delay giving the first guard she’d thrown aside enough time to pull out his stun gun and ram it into Autumn’s face. Autumn screamed, dropping the gun and falling to the ground, writhing in pain as she clutched at her eye.

“You fool!” She could hear Trulson screaming and cursing at the guard who’d attacked her.

“I said to disarm, not to blind our only surviving- what the-“ Errol was cut off by a loud roar as Jak threw off the guards holding him down, lunging at the one who had just attacked Autumn. There was a splatter of something warm and wet across Autumn’s face, and then there was a heavy thud as the guard’s brutalized corpse fell to the ground.

There was a sound like a loud ‘pop,’ followed swiftly by another ‘pop.’ Something sharp pierced Autumn’s neck, making her wince. Through the red haze of her handicapped vision, she saw Jak fall to his knees, pawing at something in his neck. A warm, bubbly feeling started to overtake Autumn, and she felt as though everything was suddenly covered by a thick fuzz.

“Well, at least now we know that the bond has developed both ways.”

“Yes. Get them out of here, and bring someone in to clean this mess up.” Errol and Trulson’s voices sounded as though they were miles away.

Autumn’s head spun as she was lifted onto a stretcher of some kind and carried out of the room. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness completely was a blurry suit of red armour dragging Dominic’s body away.

 


End file.
